HEARNE, ROBERTSON COUNTY - ECMD Inc. will relocate its Texas operations from Houston to a distribution facility at the 132,000-sf former Lifetime Doors facility, located at 2000 South Market St.

The facility will create 15 to 20 jobs when it opens in early 2014.

The building is currently being refurbished into an efficient distribution facility. The building is being reconfigured to facilitate drive-through indoor loading and unloading of curtain-side 18-wheel trucks.

The ten-plus acres adjacent to the building, Hwy. 6, and the railroad provide ample space for ECMD to expand into manufacturing as future needs dictate.

“Hearne’s strategic central Texas location is what caught our eye,” said John Harwell, CFO of ECMD, Inc. “The location on combined TX6/US 190 — The Crossroads of Texas — allows the ECMD fleet to make shorter hauls to each major metro market and the smaller markets in between.”

New manufacturing jobs, retail expansion along Hwy. 6/US 79, and a strengthening economy are resulting in increased local property, hotel/motel, and sales tax collections in Hearne.